Cuts hit home in any language

UAlbany officials to drop most foreign languages; state budget blamed

Published 12:42 am, Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Students walk to class at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Students walk to class at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Photo: Lori Van Buren

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Students use the Library at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Students use the Library at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Photo: Lori Van Buren

Image 3 of 3

Students walk to class at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Students walk to class at UAlbany in Albany, NY on October 4, 2010. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Photo: Lori Van Buren

Cuts hit home in any language

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ALBANY -- In Moscow, thousands of miles from New York, Joseph Micancin watched ballerinas dance, ordered meat dishes in Russian and listened to bank investors argue. He could make sense of his experience abroad because he minored in the language at UAlbany.

But future students won't have the same opportunity. Last Friday, university officials announced that in light of state budget cuts, the campus -- whose motto is "the world within reach" -- is eliminating admissions to its French, Italian, Russian, classics and theater programs. By August 2012, when the language department's roughly 200 students graduate, only Spanish will remain.

Several faculty and staff, including about a dozen tenured professors, said they will lose their positions. And scholars nationwide are decrying UAlbany's cuts as an unfair blow to the humanities, whose value, in the shaky job market, is being heavily scrutinized.

The announcement, made during a facultywide meeting, floored Jean-Francois Briere, chair of the languages, literatures and cultures department.

"There was no hint that anything of that sort would happen," said the French professor, who has been teaching at UAlbany since 1979.

Others said there were signs. In recent years, UAlbany has canceled its Russian doctorate program, classics department and German department. Similar steps have been taken at universities elsewhere, such as University of Southern California's 2008 decision to eliminate its German department.

Nationwide, the growth of interest in French and other affected languages lags compared with Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, according to a Modern Language Association survey of foreign language enrollment between 2002 and 2006.

But Rosemary Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association, a nationwide organization of language and literature scholars, called UAlbany's across-the-board cuts unprecedented.

"No one has eliminated, in one fell swoop, languages -- the wholesale elimination of graduate programs and majors," she said. "Albany has definitely distinguished itself in the worst way."

In his announcement, George Philip, UAlbany's president, cited the nearly $34 million in cuts that have chipped away at the university's finances for the last three years.

"Given the University at Albany's reduced revenue base," he stated, "it is critically important for the university to rethink, balance and reallocate resources to support its core academic and research mission."

The decision, Philip stated, is based on the "recognition that there are comparatively fewer students enrolled in these degree programs." Yet it is too early in the elimination process to determine the amount of money that will be saved, said campus spokesman Karl Luntta.

There are 61 students majoring in French, making it the biggest department that will be cut, according to Luntta. The next largest are theater and classics, which respectively enroll 49 and 42 students, followed by Russian (19) and Italian (13). The departments also serve numerous students who minor in those subjects and take elective classes.

The effect on UAlbany's study abroad options is unclear. "The majority of our study abroad students who study languages are involved with languages other than these," Luntta said, "and many of the students who participate in study abroad are not UAlbany students."

At least 11 tenured professors could be cut loose, including seven in French, two in Russian, one in Italian and one in classics. Some, including Briere, would be forced to retire. But the next step is much more unclear for mid-career faculty, such as Susan Blood, an associate professor in French. She said she has "no idea" what her plans are: "It took me seven years on the job market to find this job and I'm not being given seven years to find another one."

The harm being done to the language department reflects a widespread cultural attitude, said Timothy Sergay, an assistant professor in Russian.

"Literature is far more exciting, far more politically relevant in other cultures than our own," he said. "What can be done about this, I don't know."

Sergay and other professors disputed the perception that liberal arts majors do not learn employable skills, pointing to those who have pursued law, education, medicine, translation and policy.

Micancin, 23, said his Russian skills have been a huge asset in his search for a job in international development. He can't imagine a world-class university without foreign languages, he said -- and neither can many of his classmates. "There's a lot of outrage from a lot of students," he said. "They're going to see many students leaving. I've already heard of several students who will be leaving."